Historical resources

To find information on records held in the Archives - view the Online Archives Search or visit our Photographs page for information on the Archives' photographic collections.

• Online versions of Calendars (1950 - 2011)
• Faculty Handbooks (1957 - present)
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• Faculty of Military Studies/Duntroon / University College - Australian Defence Force Academy/UNSW Canberra Handbooks (1968 – 2009) 

Calendars and Handbooks are sources for UNSW course descriptions, staff lists and administrative information about the university. They also contain maps of the campus.

All issues of Uniken / UNSW magazine are available for viewing via Trove and UNSW Digital Collections. Print copies can be accessed in the Archives.

• Issues of the student magazine Tharunka are available for viewing via Trove and UNSW Digital Collections. Print copies can be accessed in the Archives.

View photographs and information on UNSW Women, international students, named buildings on the Kensington campus, the C. S. (Jim) Smith caricatures, Archives' posters collection, development of the Kensington Campus, lost features of the Kensington campus, UNSW Foundation Days, chancellors, vice-chancellors and former chancellor Sir John Clancy .

An exhibition of Max Dupain photographs from the Archives also provides more examples of images of the UNSW campus during the 1960s.

In 2019 UNSW Alumni produced a timeline and video to celebrate the university's 70th anniversary, using many photographs from the Archives' collection.

In 2009 UNSW's Media Office produced a slideshow to celebrate the university's 60th anniversary, using many photographs from the Archives' collection.

A pdf of the slideshow can be viewed at 60th Anniversary slideshow.

Reference material on the university is also available for access in the Archives' Reading Room.

Published histories about UNSW include:

• Cashman, R., Hughes, A. & Zavos, Z. (2005).  The Pavilion on the Village Green: A History of the University of New South Wales Sports Association.
• Daniels, Eric C. (1988).  A History of the Faculty of Architecture
• Davis, Adela R. (2019). Something Borrowed, Something Blue: 50 Years of New College, UNSW 1969-2019
• Dixon, Marion. (2001).  Thirty Up: the story of the UNSW Law School.
• Douglas, J. B. (1996).  A Brief History of the Department of Statistics, the University of New South Wales (1948 - 1983).
• Frame, Tom. (2017).  Widening Minds: The University of New South Wales and the education of Australia's defence leaders.
• Hampton, B., Allen, B. & Loeffel, R. (2009).  The History of the UNSW Faculty of Engineering 1949 - 2009.
• Hampton, B. (2012).  The History of the UNSW School of Chemical Engineering 1949 - 2009
• Hampton, B. & Allen, B. (2010).  The History of the UNSW School of Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications 1949 - 2009.
• Hampton, B. & Allen, B. (2010).  The History of the UNSW School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering 1949 - 2009.
• Hampton, B. & Allen, B. (2010).  The History of the UNSW School of Mining Engineering 1949 - 2009.
• Hughes, Anthony T. (2024). The Badge We Wear: A History of Sport at UNSW Sydney.
• Lawrence, L. J., Ward, C. R., Neef, G. & Rickwood, P. C. (2003).  Fifty Plus: A History of Geology at the University of New South Wales 1949 - 2002
• Le Moignan, Mick. (2017).  UNSW: Australia's Global University.
• Loeffel, R. (2007).  The History of the UNSW School of Surveying and Spatial Information Systems 1949 - 2007.
• Luscombe, Desley (ed) (2001).  UNSW Campus: A Guide to its Architecture, Landscape and Public Art.
• McLintock, Rae (1993).  The Development of the Buildings and Grounds of the University of New South Wales.
• O'Connell, M. (2010).  The History of the UNSW School of Civil & Environmental Engineering 1949 - 2010.
• O'Farrell, Patrick (1999).   UNSW A Portrait: The University of New South Wales 1949-1999.
• Pfennigwerth, Ian. (2012).  ADFA: the first 25 years of the Australian Defence Force Academy.
• The School of Chemistry (1999).  The School of Chemistry: the University of New South Wales (1879 - 1999).
• Scobie, Claire (2015).  Basser, Philip Baxter and Goldstein: The Kensington Colleges.
• Willis, A. H. (1983).  The University of New South Wales: The Baxter Years.
• Winton, Ronald (1999).  With Hand and Mind and Heart: A look back at the first quarter century of the Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales.

• View Student Services' UNSW graduate register to search for UNSW graduates from 2000 onwards.

Assist us in identifying a selection of photographs from the Archives' collection - visit the Can you help us? page

Arrange a visit to the Archives to conduct in-depth research - Accessing University Information.

UNSW annual reports are available for viewing online via UNSW Digital Collections.